Device for forming wire hat-frames.



No. 797,284. PATEIQ'TED AUG. 15, 1905. W M. JAMESON.

DEVIGEFOR FORMING WIRE HAT FRAMES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. '1. 1904.

\VINTHROP M. JAMESON, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

DEVltDE FUR FORMING WIRE HAT-FHAMEEL.

no. a 97,284..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, [905.

Application filed November '7, 1904. Serial No. 231,639.

To all whom, it nuty concern:

Be it known that ifWINrHRor M. J'ArmsoN, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cambridge, county of MiddlesemState oi Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Devices for Forming YVire Hat-Frames, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the pro duction of a novel form 01. device for forming twisted-wire hat-frames for ladies hats, whereby the construction oi? the hat-"frame is facilitated and the production of crowns and brims or coronets 01 various shapes readily accomplished. The construction of the device is such that the completed hat-frame may be easily removed, and l have provided means whereby a very great variation in the shape and width of the brim of any particular design can be accommodated.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device for forming wire hat-frames embodying my present invention, and to avoid confusion i have shown only two of the crown-wire-supporting members with the corresponding means for supporting the head-wire and the fOllllLlfliJiOD- wires oi the brim. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional detail on the line 3 3, Fig. 1, to show the clamping device for one of the crown-wire-supporting members. Fig. 4: is a detail of the means for normally locking the base and for collapsing the same, and Fig. 5 is a detail showing the arrangement of the crown and head wire supporting means set for a steeple crown.

Briefly stated, in a bell-crown hat-frame the area inclosed by the head-wire is less than that inclosed by the crown-wire, in a steeple crown it is just the reverse, and in a straight crown the areas are substantially the same, hat-crowns partaking 01" one or the other of these general characteristics and sometimes combining two of them.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, l have shown the base as consisting of two semicircular parts 1 2, hinged together at 3, Fig. 2, the part 2 being firmly attached by screws 4.- to a circular disk 5, having a depending central .column 6, which may conveniently be rotata- As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 1, a slotted ear 9 is secured to the part 1 near its periphery, and a combined locking member and collapsing device 10 is :t'ulcrurned at 11 on the ear, said device 10 having its inner end notched at 12 to normally embrace the part 1 and the disk 5. When the member 10 is lifted into dotted-line position, Fig. i, its notch 12 is swung outward, releasing or unlocking the base part 1, the toe 13 then bearing on the bottom of the slot in the ear 9 and continued upward movement 01 member 10 will swing up the base part .1 on the hinge as a Fulcrum, thereby collapsing the base. When the member 10 is returned to dotted-line position. Fig. i, and released, its weight will automatically return it to full-line locking position. A series of arms 14 are rigidly secured to the base parts and extend radially from the same, projecting considerably beyond the periphery of the base, each arm having a longitudinal slot 15, Fig. 1, and being cut away on one vertical face to present an elongated shoulder 16 in the plane of the bottom of the slot 15. (Jrown-wire-supporting members are adjustably mounted on said arms, each member being made of an elongated flat and rigid piece oi metal 17, having two longitudinal slots 18 and 19, as herein shown, and a Wire-seat 20 at or near its upper end. The wire-seat has a narrow entrance 21 and is formed at the outer edge of the member (see Fig. 1) to receive the crown-wire c of the hat-fra|ne. A clamping-bolt 22 is extended through the slot 19 of each member and through the slot 15 oi the adjacent arm 1%, the member 17 resting against the flat vertical face of the arm, and a clamp-nut 23 and one or more washers 2a (see Fig. 3) serve to set up the bolt and clamp the member lirmly on the arm. The bolt-head 25 rests against the opposite upright face of the arm and is slabbed ol'l' at 26 to rest upon the shoulder 16 and prevent the bolt from turning. When the nut 23 is eased up, the member 17 can be bodily moved along the arm 1st toward or from the center of the base, it can be moved up or down the length of the slot 19, and it can head j usted angularly about the bolt as a center, thus providing a wide range of adjustment. in the drawings Figs. 1. and 2 the crown-wiresupporting members are shown as set substantially vertical with relation to the base and nearly at mid-point oi? their longitudinal adjustment.

The head-wire /i, Fig. 1, is supported by holders 2?, made as elongated flat strips of stifi metal, longitudinally slotted at 28, and each having near one end a prong forming a seat 29 for the head-wire. The holders are connected to the members 17 by headed clamping-bolts 30 and nuts 31, Fig. 2, the bolts passing through the slots 18 and 23 of the crownwire-supporting members and the holders, respectively, the holders being so placed that the wire-seats 29 open outward. (See Fig. 1.) By the clamping connection and the construction shown holders are universally adjustable in planes parallel to the adjacent members 17. They can be adjusted lengthwise of the said members by the slots 18 therein, laterally by their own slots 28, and an ularly about the i k I r clamping-bolts, so that practically any relative arrangement of crown and head wires can be provided for. "ith a bell crown the hold ers are set as shown in Fig. 1, the members 17 being located outside of the seats 29 for the head-wire, so that the completed frame can be easily removed when the base is collapsed.

In order to support the foundation-wires of the brim, I mount on the head-wire holders one or more similar members, according to the width of the brim and its curvature; but while the brim-wire-supporting members are like the holders in construction the; are herein distinguished by the reference-n umber 32. Each member 32 has a longitudinal slot 33, Fig. 1, and a brim-wire seat 3 1, or they may have two of such seats, one near each end, a member having a double seat being shown at the right, Fig. 1, and a similar one at the extremity of the group at the left of Fig. 1. A group of the members 32 are adjustably connected with each other by clamping-bolts 35 and in like manner to the head-wire holders, as will be clear from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2. The foundation-wires of the brim are supported in the seats 34, and in the arrangement shown herein a brim flared or upturned at the front and narrower and downturned at the back of the hat'frame can be made. If the frame is to have a coronet, it will be seen that its shape and size can be easily provided for by the proper adjustment of the brim-wire supports, it being understood that a coronet is merely a particular kind or shape of brim. The members 32 are individually adjustable on and with relation to their fellows ina set angularly up and down or longitudinally by means of the clamping-bolts 35 and the slots 33, as will be obvious.

W'hen a straight crown is to be made, the holders 27 will be moved outward on the crownwire supports 17 till the head-wire seats 29 are substantially directly below the crownwire seats 21. To make a steeple crown, the members 17 are set at an angle inclined toward each other, (see Fig. 5,) and the holders 2? are set substantially horizontally with their seats 29 outside of vertical lines passing through the crown-wire seats. so that the area inclosed by the head-wire will be greater than that inclosed by the crown-wire. \Vhen the roundand-round wires have been laid in the respective seats, the fore-and-at't wires are attached in well-known manner, and when the hat-frame is completed the base is collapsed, as has been described. This moves the wire seats in members carried by the part 1 of the base toward those seats on members mounted on the part 2, enabling the operator to remove the hat-frame quickly and easily without bending or distorting it, no matter how complex or irregular its shape.

Each of the rigid arms 14 15 adapted to haveone of the supporting members 17 attached to it, although with some shapes it will be unnecessary to use the full quota of such members, and a head-wire holder and as many of the brim-wire-supporting members as may be necessary or convenient can be carried by each of the upright crown-wire-supporting members.

Changes or modifications in various details may be made without. departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is

1. In a device for forming wire hat-frames, a base, a series of supporting members connected therewith and bodily movable toward and from a common center and individually adjustable longitudinally and angularly, each member having a crown-wire seat at its upper end, means to maintain said members in adjusted position, a head-wire holder mount ed on each member longitudinally and transversely thereto and angularly adjustable thereon, and means to maintain the holder in adjusted position.

2-. In a device for forming wire hat-frames, a base, a series of elongated, longitudinallyslotted supporting members connected therewith and bodily movable toward and from a common center and individually adjustable longitudinally and angularly, each member having a crown-wire seat, means to maintain said members in adjusted position, an elongated, longitudinally-slotted headwire holder on each of said members, and a pivotclamp for and passing through the slot of each holder whereby the same may be adjusted longitudinally, transversely and angularly with -relation to the supporting member on which it is mounted.

3. In a device for forming wire hat-frames, a base, a series of rigidly-attached radial arms thereon, upright supporting members mounted on said arms and adjustable bodily thereon toward and from the center of the base, each member having a crown-wire seat at its upper end, means to maintain each member in adjusted position on its arm, an elongated headwire holder ad ustable up and down, angularly, and transversely on each of said supporting members, and a clamp connection between each of the latter and its holder to maintain the latter in adjusted position.

t. in a device for forming wire hat-frames, a base, a series of supporting members connected. therewith and bodily movable toward and from a common center, each member having a crown-wire seat at its upper end, an elongated head-wire holder having a wire'seat, mounted on each of said members, and means to maintain the holders in position to present their wire-seats at the inner or outer sides of the supporting members.

5. in a device for forming wire hat-frames, a base, a series of supporting members con nected therewith and bodily movable toward and from a common center, each member having a crown-wire seat at its upper end, an elongated head-wire holder having a wire-seat, mounted on eachol said members. and movable bodily up and down thereon, and means to maintain the holders in adjusted position with their wire-seats at either side of the supporting members, whereby hat-frames having bell, steeple, or straight crowns may be formed.

6. llln a device for forming wire hat-frames, a collapsible base, a plurality of angularly and longitudinally adjustable members connected therewith and separately movable toward and from its center, to support the crown\vire of a hat-trame, means to maintain said members in adjusted position, an elongated holder mounted on each of said members and having a head-wire seat near its inner end, and a clamp connection between each member and its holder, whereby the position of the. seat may be adjusted vertically, laterally, and angularly.

7. ln a device forming wire hat-frames, a base having longitudinally-slotted radial arms rigidly attached thereto, elongatei'l wire-smiporting members, each having a longitudinal slot, and a crown-wire seat at its upper end, a clamp connection extended through the slot of each arm, and the slotted member carried thereby, to hold the latter in adjusted position, and a holder having a head-wire seat mounted on each of said supporting members and adjustable thereon to bring its seat inside or outside of the crown-wire when the latter is positioned.

8. in a device for fori'ning wire hat-frames, a two-part base the parts of which are pivotally connected, means to sustain the base, rigidly attached to one of its parts, a combined locking device and collapsing handle mounted on the other part, erownwire-supporting members mounted on the base, and head-wire holders vertically and laterally adjustable on said supporting members.

9. in a device of the class described, a base having rigid radial arms each provided with a longitudinal slot, an elongated, longitudinallyslotted crown-wire-supporting member for each arm, means including a clamping-Milt extended through the slot of each member and that of the adjacent arm, to clamp the member in adjusted position on the arm, an elongated, longitudinally-slotted holder having a head wire seat near its inner end, mounted on each supporting member, and a clamp connection extended through the crossed slots of the supporting member and the holder carried thereby, to retain the holder on and in adjusted position with relation to the supporting member.

10. In a device of the class described, a base, a plurality of circularly-arranged crownwire-supporting members connected therewith, a multipart brim-wire support adjustably mounted on each 01'' said members, each part having a brim-wire seat, and means to clamp the several parts together in relatively adjusted position.

11. In a device of the class descriimd, a base, upright surn'iorting members connected therewith and each having a crown-wire seat, a holder vertically and laterally adjustable on each member and provided with a head-wire seat, means to retain the holder in adjusted position, a multipart brim \vire sup ilort adapted to be adj ustably secured to the holder, the parts of the brim-wire support being adjustable relatively to each other and each having a seat for a brim-wire, and means to maintain said adjustment.

12. .ln a device of the class described, a collapsible base, a plurality of crown-wire-supporting members connected therewith and bodily movable thereon toward and from its center and also adjustable vertically and angularly, means to retain said members in adjusted position, a holder adjustably mounted on each member and universally adjustable in a plane parallel thereto, each holder having a head-wire seat, means to maintain each holder in adjusted position and adjustable brim-supporting means on said holders.

13. In a device oi the class described, a base, a series of crown-wire-supporting members connected therewith and individually adjustable with relation thereto, and extended upward from the base past the points of support for the head-\vire, means to maintain said members in adjusted position, and a series o'l members having seats to support the headr wire of a hat-frame, carried by and individ' ually adjustable on the crown-wire-su pporting members, means to retain the hezul-wirc-supporting members in adjusted position.

1 L. In a device of the class described, a base, a series of crown-wiresupporting members connected therewith and imlividually adjustable with relation thereto, and extended upward from the base past the points of support for the headwire, means to maintain said members in adjusted position, a series oi flat and elongated longitudinally-slotted members having seats to support the head-wire of a hat-frame, each of said members being carried by and individually adjustable on the ero\vn-\vire-supporting members, and clamping-bolts extended through the slots of and maintaining the headwire-supporting members in adjusted position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

VINTHROP M. JAMESON.

\Vitnesses:

J OHN O. EDWARDS, MABEL PARTELOW. 

